The saga of de-regulation

1980. Ronald Reagan elected President. "The nine most terrifying words in the English Language are: "I'm from the government and I am here to help."

From the day Reagan was elected, we started to see a slow but inexorable erosion of governmental regulation and oversight which flipped into high gear under George Bush II and which is still espoused by John McCain (except when it sort-of isn't).

For the Adam Smith fans out there, let's look at what happens in the real world when an unregulated corporate world gets to play Free Market.

2008
Today: "Investigation finds FAA rushed jet approval" "FAA knew about the 'deficiencies' ... in part because of an overly close relationship with the manufacturer ... pendulum swing away from vigorous enforcement of compliance, toward an industry-favorable cozy relationship."

Today: "Wall Street plunges despite AIG bailout" "... after it lost billions in the risky business of insuring against bond defaults ... Goldman Sachs [] and Morgan Stanley remain under scrutiny" "AIG on the line for others' losses" "an exotic type of insurance to cover losses from investments tied to mortgages ... didn't envision that [it] could have gotten so out of hand"

This week: Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, WaMu teetering

This year: Foreclosures out the wazoo - "homeless" no longer only applies to down-and-outs.

This decade: How many Katrina "survivors" are still living in trailers and on welfare because FEMA had its funding and its experienced leadership taken away? Remember the mine collapse caused by over-zealous chiseling away at support walls? How many cranes have to fall in New York? How many highway bridges have to collapse? How many lead-heavy toys and bacerioactive vegetables have to poison our families before de-regulation gets a bad name?

Here's a little story of my own. My wife and I moved house in 2001. We got quotes from several movers and selected one (Sabra) that seemed competent and gave a reasonable quote (a little under $3000). They would bring 3 trucks, one with a trailor for my lawn tractor. The third tractor turned up at 7pm (only 11 hours late) and did not have a trailor. They tried to get the tractor into it with the hoist and nearly destroyed it before giving up and having to come back and pick it up the next day. We eventually left for our new home at 2am. They arrived there on the dot of 9 the next morning and presented us with a bill for over $6000. Cashier's check only, no cash=no belongings and a daily fee for storage if we didn't fork over the cash (on a Saturday). The difference between the quote and the bill was apparently based on several rolls of packing tape and some bubble wrap (?!). After "discussing" this at length with the movers and the owner of Sabra, we learned that thanks to DE-REGULATION, we had no leg to stand on and we had no choice but to pony up the six grand. On later talking to the previous owners of our new home, we learned that they had been treated to exactly the same scam by Nationwide.

We have had almost 30 years of De-Reagan-ulation and it's time to give Adam Smith a wake-up call.

Lest you think I'm over-reacting, let's remember Michael Milken and the Junk Bond Rip-off, Enron and the Great California Brown-out, the old Savings and Loan Fiasco (starring John McCain and his Keating Five), 8 and 9-figure bonuses for CEOs of failing companies - the list just goes on and on.

Basically, this last three decades has proven conclusively that, left to their own devices, our business leaders regard morality and ethics as expendable and expensive, getting in the way of piling up the old personal wealth. I wonder how many libertarians there were in feudal England. The only real difference between then and now is that Might is measured in dollars instead of soldiers. The serfs are still powerless against the Overlords.

Let's not let the Deregulators put us off with commissions and more tax-cuts for the wealthy. The only thing that's trickled down is disaster.